MacTutor
Mathematicians Of The Day
19th February
On this day in 1672, Newton's first publication appeared as a letter in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. It dealt with his new theory of light, showing that a prism separates white light into its component colours. Huygens, Hooke, and others objected so strongly that he vowed not to publish again. Fortunately that vow was not kept.
Click on Ⓟ for a poster.
Born:
- 1473: Nicolaus Copernicus Ⓟ
- 1837: Aleksandr Nikolaevich Korkin Ⓟ
- 1863: Axel Thue Ⓟ
- 1866: T J J See Ⓟ
- 1919: Alexander Andreevich Samarskii Ⓟ
- 1924: Arnljot Høyland Ⓟ
- 1929: Andor Kertész Ⓟ
Died:
- 1553: Erasmus Reinhold Ⓟ
- 1622: Henry Savile Ⓟ
- 1799: Jean-Charles de Borda Ⓟ
- 1897: Karl Weierstrass Ⓟ
- 1908: Hermann Laurent Ⓟ
- 1929: Joseph Boussinesq Ⓟ
- 1946: Michele de Franchis Ⓟ
- 1985: Wilhelm Specht Ⓟ
- 1988: Erich Hans Rothe Ⓟ
- 1990: Otto Neugebauer Ⓟ
- 2009: Edmund Hlawka Ⓟ
- 2017: Igor Rostislavovich Shafarevich Ⓟ
Quotation of the day
From Nicolaus Copernicus
Finally we shall place the Sun himself at the center of the Universe. All this is suggested by the systematic procession of events and the harmony of the whole Universe, if only we face the facts, as they say, 'with both eyes open'.
